1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to home entertainment, and more specifically to techniques for providing security for firmware updates to devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer graphics technology has come a long way since video games were first developed. Relatively inexpensive 3D graphics engines now provide nearly photo-realistic interactive game play on hand-held video game, home video game and personal computer hardware platforms costing only a few hundred dollars. These video game systems typically include a hand-held controller, game controller, or, in the case of a hand-held video game platform, an integrated controller. A user interacts with the controller to send commands or other instructions to the video game system to control a video game or other simulation. For example, the controller may include a joystick and buttons operated by the user.
While video games allow the user to interact directly with the video game system, such interactions primarily influence the graphical depiction shown on the video game device (or on a connected display), and rarely influence any other objects outside of the virtual world. That is, a user may specify an input to the video game system, indicating that the user's avatar should perform a jump action, and in response the video game system could display the user's avatar jumping. However, such interactions are typically limited to the virtual world, and any interactions outside the virtual world are limited (e.g., a hand-held gaming device could vibrate when certain actions occur).
Additionally, many hand-held gaming devices include some form of camera device which may be used to capture an image or a series of images of a physical, real-world scene. The captured images can then be displayed, for instance, on a display of the hand-held gaming device. Certain devices may be configured to insert virtual objects into the captured images before the images are displayed. Additionally, other devices or applications may enable users to draw or paint particular within a captured image of a physical scene. However, as such alterations apply only to a single image of the physical scene, subsequent captured images of the physical scene from different perspectives may not incorporate the user's alterations.
Many electronic and computing devices include some form of firmware, which generally represents computer program code (and data) stored in a portion of persistent memory. In some devices, the firmware is stored such that the firmware cannot be changed throughout the lifetime of the device (e.g., stored in Read-Only Memory (ROM)). While doing so provides enhanced firmware security in terms of preventing third-party firmware and potentially malicious firmware from being installed on the device, it also prevents updates from the developers of the device that can be used to fix problems with the firmware, add new features, and so on. Additionally, modules exist to ensure that only authorized firmware is running on a processor, such as a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) secure cryptoprocessor. However, such hardware modules have a substantial monetary cost, which can make them ill-suited for particular products.